{shades of pink}

My first real competitive golf!

I love to play golf and have really gotten serious about improving my skills over the past couple of years. I've played in several scramble events, mainly for fun, and have won several nice prizes, but I've always had a team to rely on. I've talked with Cody about wanting to compete at a higher level, so he encouraged me to just do it this summer, so I sent in my application for the Wisconsin Women's Stroke Play Championship. I'm not quite good enough to be in the Championship flight, but I will play in the first flight. I have to admit, I'm extremely scared/nervous. Like I said, I've played in and won many other tournaments, but nothing soley on my own. Anyway, the tournament is a 2-day event in late July, so wish me luck!

My Swing has Returned!

Ever since we moved to Wisconsin from Texas, my golf game has really been a struggle. Granted, we played every day, almost year-round, down there, whereas here, we don't get to play nearly as much. The courses here are also a bit more difficult as they have real rough that definitely can affect your game. Well, the last three times we've played, my game has gotten lots better! I started off well, I shot an 86 on a par 70, which was my goal — eight over per side. Then I played in a scramble and I was swinging so well that I think alone I would have scored better. We then had a week off and played on Sunday and I was on fire! I shot an 84 on a par 73. This is my best score ever on a standard length course, and it really should have been better than it was. I really need to start practicing now so I can drop my handicap. The goal is to get to single digits this year.

We made it!

Well, we made it in one piece to our new home in Ripon, Wisconsin, and we are loving it. When we packed our truck last Friday, it was about 104° in Georgetown, Texas. When we unloaded it on Monday here in Ripon, it was 69°. What a great change. My DH and I are so glad to be back in a state where you can have the windows open and the air smells so clean. It's amazing how many simple things bring joy. Just a couple: walking through the grass barefoot and not worrying about stepping in a fire ant mound, walking barefoot across the parking lot and not scalding the bottoms of your feet, sleeping with the windows open and waking up to the crisp morning air.

My goals today are to send my resume for the perfect job we found yesterday (it'd be great to find a good job right away so we don't have to worry about that) and finish setting up my stamp room. I got a good start yesterday and should be set up and stamping again by the end of today.

We took a break yesterday from unpacking and played golf at Tuscumbia Country Club in Green Lake, only about 6 miles away. Tuscumbia is the oldest golf course in Wisconsin and it was a very fun course, very different than the Texas courses we are used to. The fairways are very narrow and the greens were pretty small, but it was in very good shape. And the rough was really rough - 2 cuts even. The biggest difference - it was all so green, everything was green. We loved it, and I played pretty well, so of course, no complaining here.